[sf-lug] "Educating Tux: case studies of Linux...and "Purity"

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Asheesh Laroia (asheesh at asheesh.org):

> Note that the issues with Firefox and Thunderbird are not trademark 
> issues, which are widely considered not a problem, but instead copyright 
> issues.

In the name of saving time, I said "trademark issues" rather than "a
copyright licence on certain bundled pictorial non-software files that
is predicated on one's observance of Mozilla Foundation's trademark policy".

FWIW, I consider what *I* wrote far less misleading than your statement
that Mozilla Foundation's trademark licensing being "widely considered
not a problem", which strikes me as _very_ distortive.

> >The issue is so simple, I can explain it in 12 words: the copyright
> >license governing these files
> ><http://lxr.mozilla.org/seamonkey/source/other-licenses/branding/firefox/>
> >does not permit modification or redistribution. That?s it. Really.

Specifically, the licence for those non-software image files requires
observation of Mozilla Foundation's trademark policy.

OK, are we done with this dance?  ;->


> Rick further wrote:
> 
> >There are also patent-related issues, about which see: 
> >https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gobuntu/pkg-non-free
> 
> I personally think that the software patent issues are not very important; 
> so does Gobuntu, it seems.  Quoting 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gobuntu/pkg-non-free :
> 
> "Gobuntu does not have or need a separate attitude to software patents to 
> that of the Ubuntu project.

And yet, the topic (in recent context) was actually what _FSF_ considers
free software in light of patent issues, not what Canonical, Ltd. does.